Pattern formation on a stretchable substrate

We propose a theoretical exploration on phase separation of a binary monolayer of molecules on a uniformly stretched substrate. By extending the previous phase-field model to involve the effect of such a finite pre-stretch, the stability of the monolayer is analyzed, and the temporal evolution of the compositional domains is simulated. Our results indicate that the pre-stretch provides an efficient way to order the phase separation patterns. Therefore, by properly adjusting the principal stretch of the substrate and the composition of the monolayer, the resulting surface pattern may be well tailored.